My new favorite lens

I love photography. And I’m not afraid to admit that I also love photo gear. My family has long since figured that out, and I recently celebrated a milestone birthday (hint: it begins with a 3).

Bring on the glass!

My brother surprised me with a Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8. So far, I’m thrilled with this lens. I’ve always read that a 60mm macro is not ideal for shooting insects, but for flora and portraits, it’s wonderful. Sharp, contrasty, colorful, and a nice balance of heft and compactness. At $370, it’s a decent value if not quite a screaming bargain.

The ubiquitous Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 D is a bit sharper and a true bargain ($110!), but I often find myself hitting the minimum focus distance with that lens—not a problem on the Micro-Nikkor, that’s for sure!

All of the following are directly off the card—no edits other than RAW to JPEG conversion (courtesy of Lightroom) and one crop. My wife shot the second and fourth ones. She’s quickly surpassing me in her photographic abilities.

I often hear it said that great photographs are the product of great photographers, not great equipment. That may be true, but boy, having a D300 and a Micro-Nikkor 60mm sure helps a lot!

The other new lens I received was the Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 super-wide. More on that later, after I get the chance to take some decent shots with it.